The druffalo
by KCousland
Summary: Lorem Lavellan brought a druffalo back to its owner. It wasn't a big deal. Or was it? Confronted with the enormity of the task at hand for the newly appointed Inquisitor, what's a simple Dalish hunter to do? How do you make the world feel small again? Maybe with the help of the little people. Sometimes litterally. Written as a gift for Ventisquear for the secret santa exchange.


_Author's notes: This is a little story I wrote for Ventisquear for the secret santa exchange on the CMDA board. I hope you guys like it! There might be more to this story eventually!_

* * *

"Maybe we could send some troops over there, too,» Cullen said, moving figurines across the map. «Some forward scouts, maybe a couple of foot soldiers… get the lay of the land, learn a bit more about the area. What do you think?"

Silence followed. Cullen raised his eyes from the map for the first time since the war council session began.

"Inquisitor Lavellan?"

Lorem was just standing there, arms hanging limply by his sides, unfocused gaze floating somewhere over the cluttered map, showing no signs that he had even heard anything. He suddenly shook himself out of his apparent stupor and looked up.

"Yes?"

"Huh… any questions?" Cullen asked hesitantly.

"Nope," Lorem said, his tone sharp. "I need to bring an end to the civil war in Orlais, stop the assassination plot on the Empress, figure out what is going on with the super-secretive Grey Wardens, find the Venatori, find the red Templars, destroy any trace of red lyrium, seal the rifts, find and kill the maybe-archdemon, find and kill Corypheus, figure out how it all ties together. See? Got it."

"One step at a time, Inquisitor," Leliana said gently.

"Right. One step." Lorem's gaze fell back on the map and he crossed his arms, lips pressed together.

"In… other news," Josephine added after a few seconds of silence, "I see that some Inquisition resources have been used for different tasks around the Hinterlands. I see here that, among other things, you went in search of a… druffalo?"

Lorem bit his lip. "Right. Yes."

"Hum…" Josephine hesitated. "Did you find it?"

"Yes."

"Was it a… special druffalo of some kind?"

"No… not really."

"Were you trying to recruit the owner for the Inquisition, perhaps?"

"No…"

"Obtain information from him?"

"No…"

"I see." Josephine looked around the war table at faces as confused as her own. "Well, the resources involved were not considerable, in any case. Was… was he all right?"

A small smile played on Lorem's lips. "Yeah…"

"Hm… Maybe that's enough for today," Leliana said, gathering her reports. "Let's reconvene tomorrow morning."

"All right," Loren said, sighing. He pulled up a chair to sit in front of the map. "See you guys tomorrow."

All three advisors made their way to the door, whispering softly between them. Soon Lorem was left alone in the war room, in blessed silence. He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, and studied the map intently. He sat there for a long time, hands folded over his mouth, his thumbs automatically following the patterns of the vallaslin on his cheeks in a familiar gesture. Finally, he sighed loudly and leaned back, running a hand through his short, spiked, brown hair.

"Creators, I need something strong."

* * *

"Hey you," Sera said, plopping down on a chair next to him. "Watcha doin'?"

"Drinking," Lorem answered, gesturing around at the tavern. "I figure this was the place for it."

"Right," Sera drawled, eyeing the three full cups in front of him. "Gonna drink all this all by your lonesome?"

"Please," he said with a smile, pushing a drink towards her, "join me, you and your subtle insinuations."

"Is that how it is? Well, then, me and my insinuations will need two of 'em, since we're both here, won't we?" She grabbed a second cup and settled both drinks firmly in front of her. She took a swig from one cup and grimaced. "Ugh. What's this?"

"Don't know," Lorem said, drinking deeply. "Cheapest stuff they had. Wouldn't do to spend the Inquisition's resources on booze, now, would it?"

"Well, as long as it knocks you out, it's all good, innit?" She drained her first cup and coughed. "Strong stuff, at least, so there's that."

"Yeah," Lorem grumbled, staring at the bottom of his cup. Sera leaned in, gently bumping her shoulder to his.

"Hey! What's eating you?"

He sighed.

"I don't… I don't think you can understand. Or rather," he added hastily, raising both hands to interrupt the incendiary reply she seemed about to spit out, "I don't think I can explain it properly."

"Ugh." She pushed her remaining cup away and leaned back. "Is it elfy stuff?"

"No. Well… maybe. I don't know, in a way, I guess. I mean… isn't it too big? Don't you think it's too big?"

"Ha!" she laughed, banging a hand on the table. "Dunno, don't wanna know, sorry I asked!"

He laughed softly. "Right, I guess I walked right into that one."

"I mean, I heard there was no such _thing_ as too big for… wait… you already got a peek? You sleazy weasel you…" She punched him lightly on the shoulder.

"What… wait, I'm confused. What are you talking about?"

"Dorian's junk, right? Figured you'd get all up in there someday…"

"Sera!"

"What?"

"I… he's… I don't… not… just…"

She giggled. "Oh, that bad, huh? Figured as much, the way you get all mushy when he's around. Still, he's sorta short, and with the smallish hands and all, I wouldn't have guessed he could have a huge…"

"Oh Creators, Sera, stop!" Lorem hiccupped, bent over with laughter. "I'm not talking about that! For future reference, I will never be talking about that, in any shape or form, ever!"

"Oh. What, then?"

"Just…" he made a vague gesture with both hands, "you know?"

"The castle? I thought that was the point. Get a big solid defensible castle in the sky, to hide until we can finally shot Coryphefish and his dragon-demon-thingy full of arrows and be done with all that shit."

"No. Well, yes, the castle, and the mission, and the Fade and the war and the spirits… You know, my life was simple, before. Hard, but simple. Now… everywhere I look, things are always so complicated, like… like the world is too big to fit in my head."

She stared at him for a second. "That's… just… _stupid_."

He sighed. "I'm not saying it right."

"Hey, Boss," the Iron Bull said, sitting across the table from them, taking up the entire bench. "What are we drinking?" He took a cup from the table, smelled the content, and huffed. "Oh, no. That won't do at all." He gestured at the bartender, who promptly filled up a huge tankard with some dark liquid from a bottle and passed it over to him. He drank deeply and wiped his mouth. "Ah, that's the stuff! So, what are we talking about?"

Sera crossed her arms. "How stupid he is."

"Aw, that's a bit harsh, Sera. I mean, he's small, sure, and maybe not always quick on the uptake…"

"I'm sitting _right here_ ," Lorem reminded them tiredly.

"…but stupid? Come on. All right, tell me what this is about," Bull continued, unfazed.

"He says the world is too big," Sera said, leaning back in her chair, spreading her hands palms up to emphasize the idiocy of the declaration. Instead of laughing, Bull looked at the Inquisitor with a sombre, pensive expression.

"Yeah. I have days like that too." Lorem looked back at him, eyebrows raised. "Of course," Bull continued, laughter back in his voice, "I have days when I feel like the world is too small! Or maybe it's just you people."

"Shut up, you! You're big!" Sera laughed.

"All right, Sera," Lorem said, turning to her. "I'll bite. Why is it stupid?"

"It's stupid because it's _not_ complicated! You always make things so complicated. Something's in your way? You stick it full of arrows. The world is too big? You make it smaller."

Lorem burst out laughing. "Oh, is that it? How do you suggest I do that?"

"You go at the heart of things," Bull said. "You already know all this. This whole thing, the Inquisition. What's it about?"

Lorem looked at him questioningly.

"What's it about, Grim?" Bull repeated softly. Lorem smiled.

"It's about the people."

"Right," Bull approved. "People are what matters. You're wondering where to begin? Begin with people."

"I… I saved a druffalo," Lorem blurted out. "The farmer… was really happy."

Bull laughed. "Well. Not how I would've done it but… That's a first step."

"A first step," Lorem repeated, smiling.

"Pff. About _people._ I could have told you that, you know," Sera said, draining her cup.

* * *

"Inquisitor."

"Scout Harding."

" _Damn, this place is cold,"_ he thought as he listened to the scout's report on red Templar activities in Emprise du Lion. It seemed like the townsfolk had it really rough for a couple of weeks now. _"It's about the people,"_ he reminded himself, looking over at the frozen town below.

"I should look in on the townsfolk, see what they can tell me," he said as Harding finished her report.

"I'm sure they'd appreciate it," she said with a nod.

"Tomorrow, though," he said, eyeing the setting sun. "Say, are you busy right now?"

"I… guess not," she said. "Did my report and everything, so…"

"Would you like to eat with me? I have some more questions."

"Of course, Inquisitor."

They settled around one of the campfires as people started passing around plates of food.

"So, I read your report…" he began.

"Which one? It's been a rather prolific couple of weeks, report-wise," she said, blowing gently on her food.

"I meant, the report on you. About how you join the Inquisition."

"Oh. Right. Well, I wanted to see the world. I did that, all right. I guess that's what they mean when they say, be careful what you wish for."

"That bad, huh?" he said, taking a careful bite of his still-hot food.

"Not… bad, exactly. I wanted to see the world before it got all swallowed up. It seems like I arrive just in time for that everywhere I go. It's all just so…"

"Big?" Lorem suggested softly.

"Well, yeah, but also… grim. Don't get me wrong, there are some beautiful places, but everywhere, things are just so… wrong. And people… people mostly just accept that. I mean, they complain a lot, but they kind of… just live through it. Nobody does anything. Well, except us. Except you."

"Charter said that you helped them with the map, then went home, and came back the following day to join. What happened?"

Harding remained silent for a while, pushing food around on her plate.

"It's the dog," she said at length.

"The dog?"

"Yeah. My family has a dog, a mabari. You know about those?"

"A little."

"Well, I was walking home with the sheep, and… a rift opened. I herded the sheep away as fast as I could, but one of them was too far away and a demon was coming for it. Contessa… the dog… she just went for it. Took on the demon all by herself, to save the sheep. Stupid dog…" she murmured, shaking her head.

"What happened?" Lorem asked gently.

"She got torn up pretty bad before I could even reach for my bow," Harding said. "But she gave as good as she got. When I finally got an arrow notched, the demon was down. Damned mabari killed herself a demon, while I was busy trying to run away."

"Pretty brave, for a dog."

"Yeah, or pretty stupid," she chuckled. "But it got me thinking, I mean, when I got enough of my wits back to start thinking again. Even the dog knew that it wasn't a time to sit idly by doing nothing. This is a time to act. Even if it's just to save a stupid sheep. If we sit on our arses doing nothing now, this isn't going to simply pass us by. So I talked to my folks, and I joined the next day."

"Pretty brave of you."

"Yeah, or…" she said with a little smile, leaving the rest of the sentence unspoken. "I can't do much, but what I can do, I can do well. And I'm doing it to help."

"I saved a druffalo the other day, in Redcliffe," Lorem said suddenly.

"Yeah? Was it Galin's druffalo? If so, you might have saved his life as well. That beast is his whole world."

"I… don't know."

"I bet it is. Only Galin would bother the Inquisitor for a druffalo."

"It wasn't a bother. It was easy. Easily controllable. I'm good at this: tracking, searching for animals in the wild. It's one of the things I do well, as you say."

"Huh. I guess it's easy to forget there's a real person behind that green mark on your hand. You were a hunter?"

"Yeah. Not the best of my clan, but I did all right. And… it felt good, really, to do this small thing. To help someone by doing something simple, and easy."

"See? This is why we love you. Everywhere I go for the Inquisition, people are usually relieved to see us. They ask about you, you know? "Is the Inquisitor coming?" they ask. You already have quite the reputation, and it's because of things like this, of how you help the people, in any way, great or small. It's important, what you do."

"I'll keep at it, then," he said with a smile. "As long as you're here to show me the way."

"Always, Inquisitor."

"How is your dog now?"

"Better. My folks write, once in a while. Apparently she's healing, sleeping all day by the fire, and my neighbour brings her the finest bones to chew on every day."

"That sounds nice," Lorem said wistfully.

"Yeah… A hero's rest. Think we'll get there someday?"

"I'll keep you a place by the fire when we do."

"Deal."

They sat for a while in comfortable silence, eating, looking around at the busy encampment.

"So, what's been going on?" Lorem asked after a while. Harding smiled, her eyes following a very distinctive masculine silhouette walking across the camp.

"Dorian's awfully pretty, isn't he?"

"Creators," Lorem sighed, "does everybody know?"

"Know what?"

* * *

"Watch your step for… things, Inquisitor."

" _No kidding_ ," Lorem thought, carefully stepping around the clutter. «Hey, Dagna.»

"Hey! What's up? Need something awesome made?"

"Always," he said with a smile. "Nothing in particular this time, though. Just dropping some crafting supplies for you and Harrith."

"Oh, good! You always find good stuff." She began rummaging through crates as Lorem sat gingerly on a corner of the crafting table.

"So, what's up with you?" he asked.

"Oh, I visited some of the castle yesterday. It's huge! And the view! Breathtaking! Oh, shiny!" she said, holding up some lump of silvery metal.

"So you like it here?"

"Oh, yes! I always thought Orzammar was pretty, but everything I've seen since I left… my people are missing out on so much by staying underground."

"You left there to study?"

"Yes!" She walked up to him, putting the lump of metal down on the crafting table. "Turns out, one does not study magic in Orzammar. I had to start in a Circle. I had help though! A Grey Warden. And not any Grey Warden, _the_ Grey Warden. The Hero of Ferelden is a hero in Orzammar too!"

"Really? The Hero helped you?"

"Crazy, right?" she laughed. "I was this silly little girl hanging around her father's shop. She was on her way back from the Deep roads, where she had met Paragon Caridin! Can you imagine? Well, huh… maybe not. Anyway, she walked right by me and… I waved. I waved at her! Silly me. And she stopped! I still have goosebumps just thinking about it!" She giggled, her hands busy around the lump of metal, measuring and poking at it with various tools.

"Why?"

"She was… like this greater-than-life character, you know?» she said with awe in her voice, her hands coming to rest on the table. «She was just about to crown Orzammar's next king! And she stopped to talk to _me_! She knelt by my side so that I wouldn't have to crane my neck to look up at her and… we just talked, you know? She was like… a real person. Tired, and dirty… but so patient and kind. She helped me get into Ferelden's circle. With that sanction, I visited a half-dozen circles after that. The wonders I've seen! Everything I can do, I learned. But it all started there, thanks to her. I'm forever grateful."

"She sounds really nice," he said, stepping down from his precarious perch on the table to sit on the ground.

"Oh, yes! Ask anyone! She helped a lot of people. It's incredible that someone like her would stop to help the little people. Like you do!"

"Me?"

"Yes! You're like, this great hero who do great feats and possess huge power, but you also stop and help with the little things, like… gathering supplies! You help the little people!" She giggled. "Literally."

"I helped find a druffalo once," he said, leaning back against the table's leg.

"See? Exactly what I mean. You never know where your small acts of kindness will lead, Inquisitor. I mean, look at me! Who would have thought, right?"

She sat on the ground and scooted closer to him, almost back to back, so that she could lean against the table's leg as well. They sat there for a while, listening to the soothing, if slightly deafening sound of the waterfall.

"Hey, Dagna? What do you think will happen to the druffalo? I mean, he's not going to roam the country studying magic."

"Hey, you never know! Stranger things have happened! But… probably not, yeah. Maybe he's going to save a family from a burning building by bravely charging in!"

"He did seem really tough," Lorem mused. "Hey, maybe he's going to start running around Redcliffe, charging into rifts and killing demons!"

"The Inquisitor's Indestructible Daring Druffalo!" Dagna exclaimed, laughing. "People will go wild for him!"

"Or maybe it's the owner," Lorem mused aloud. "He's going to try and learn how to train his druffalo not to wander away again, and he's going to wind up teaching him all kind of useful skills!"

"And then, and then," Dagna continued, perking up, "he's going to train dozens and dozens of druffalos, and people are going to be able to mount them!"

"And they'd be tougher than any war horse, too!"

"Right! And then _you_ could have one! And ride at the head of an army of trained druffalos!" she added through her laughter.

"I bet you could craft them sweet armours!" he said, laughing as well.

"You bet! Enchanted armours, too!"

"I can hear Commander Cullen screaming: "Unleash the Inquisition's Batallion of Armoured Charging Druffalos!" Lorem said, badly imitating the Commander's accent. "Creators, that would certainly make my job a lot easier."

"And Corypheus' tomb would read: "Here lies Corypheus, trampled to death by a thousand druffalos!"

They both burst out laughing.

"Oh, wow, that was fun! Thanks, Dagna," Lorem said, wiping his eyes.

"Oh, anytime, Inquisitor! Seriously, though. Keep doing what you do. You never know how the little changes will affect the world in the end."

"Right. Thanks, Well, I have to go now," Loren said, and began to stand up.

"Are you going to see Dorian?"

Lorem stopped and turned.

"What? I mean, yes, I mean, no! I mean… what do you know?"

"Uh… what?" Dagna asked, confused. "I just have this staff I need to give to him…"

"Oh… yeah, all right, give it to me. I mean, I guess I can make a detour that way…"

"Yeah, I bet!"

* * *

"Well, look at you!" Dorian said, closing the book he was reading. "I do love how you are always on the go. It's tiring just to watch you!"

"Hello, Dorian," Lorem said with a smile. "I have this for you. Dagna said you were waiting for it?"

"Ah, yes. She really is a wondrous craftsman. Craftswoman? Craftsdwarf? What's the correct term here, I wonder?"

Lorem chuckled. "I would have expected you to know, honestly."

"Me?" Dorian asked, a hand over his heart. "But I always pride myself of being politically incorrect as often as I can." He gestures at the chair next to his. "Would you sit with me a while? I found this brandy you simply must try."

"All right," Lorem said, sitting in the offered chair while Dorian poured him a glass.

"So," Dorian said, handing him a glass half-full of a pleasantly golden-coloured drink, "what has our dashing Inquisitor been up to lately?"

"Well," Lorem said, sipping cautiously, "I saved a druffalo recently."

"A… druffalo, you say? Is that important?"

"Apparently," Lorem said softly, looking pensively at his glass.

"Ah. I'm afraid I fail to see in what way."

"I need to do this, Dorian," Lorem said, looking up at the other man. "These… small, easily controllable gestures that I can do well. I need to help the little people. Having the fate of the world on my shoulders… it is too big. Helping one person at a time… that helps make it smaller. More manageable. Easier to fathom."

"The Inquisitor, a man of the people? That's a seductive image."

"I am a simple man, Dorian. I do simple things." He sipped again. "This is really good."

"Isn't it just? But don't underestimate yourself, Lorem. You are much more than just a simple man." Dorian leaned towards the elf, a sly smile on his lips. "After all, I am only interested in greatness."

Lorem's gaze quickly dropped to his glass, the movement almost hiding the sudden redness of his cheeks. "I… what do you mean?"

"Ah, the things you say, I could just…" Dorian chuckled, leaning back in his chair. "Another time, perhaps. Let's just enjoy this moment, for now."

"Right. Hey, Dorian?"

"Yes?"

"A man in Redcliffe asked me to find his lost ram. Will you help me look, next time we're there?"

"Anything you need, Inquisitor. Anything you need."


End file.
